Under no uncertain terms, I had been temporarily confined to our home dimension. Which...was fine, really. I had some objectives I intended to pursue, but they weren't time-critical now that Echidna wasn't about to be released – and furthermore, after that fight I was willing to take a break regardless.
So I spent my time catching up on PHO, being amused at memes of Saena and I, and doing a bit of research.
And...studying the House a bit more. I'd dug deeper into the portal settings and found the "new world" options – there was a sort of progress bar that filled as we 'completed objectives' in our current world. Once it was full, I could empty it to generate an initial portal into a new world. The bar would empty, and we could fill it again by capturing more waifus for the Company, or completing 'narrative goals,' and so forth.
Alas, it appeared that the world selection functioned like a gacha system. There were a few different 'banners' I could roll on, and there was evidence that they could shift and change with time – 'modern fantasy' was one of the current ones, as were 'supernatural' and 'science fiction.' Or, if I was feeling masochistic, there was always 'death world.'
According to the help files, there was a heavy bias towards worlds that I knew at least something about, which would be helpful.
Still, it wasn't quite relevant – we hadn't filled the portal bar for Earth Bet yet. Which...was a bit irritating. In most worlds, I'd assume defeating something like an Endbringer would produce a lot of narrative progress. Then again, in terms of Worm's scale, I suppose it wasn't quite story-ending material. Still, we were almost finished with it, at which point I'd be able to open up a new world of some type.
A vacation from Earth Bet sounded quite nice at the moment, really.
Outside of that, I'd made some preemptive adjustments and increased the size of Riley's lab, among a few other minor changes. I would soon be becoming a dragon, after all, and I was certain that she would want to take a look at how exactly that worked...and I was curious what kinds of brilliant and/or insane upgrades she could conjure up for a dragon.
Speaking of Riley...I glanced down, briefly catching the eyes of the small blonde girl clinging to my chest before she looked away blushing.
She'd returned to my bedroom every night to sleep pressed up against me. Saena had remained mostly quiet on the subject save for a vague feeling of amusement.
I reached up to ruffle her hair and she made a content little humming noise for a moment before placing both her hands on top of mine and looking up at me.
It was...a pretty adorable sight, to be honest. All that was missing was a pair of cat ears, really.
She stared up at me, and I looked at her. She blushed, but held my gaze. Then she fidgeted in my lap for a moment.
Finally, she bit her lip before speaking. "Why haven't you done anything?"
"Hmm?"
"I kissed you before you left, and...and I've been waiting and waiting and waiting but you haven't done anything!!" Her pout was in full force now. "Why?"
"I –" Whatever I'd intended to say vanished from my head when she pulled my hand off her hair and laid it on her bare thigh. Then, without hesitation, she slid it further up her leg, underneath her nightgown – and I found myself with a solid handful of her bare ass. I'm sure some unintelligible noise came out of my mouth.
"I kept waiting for you to notice and you haven't. I...I want you to do –" she pursed her lips for a moment, "– to do those sorts of things with me too..." I squeezed her reflexively, and she moaned in the back of her throat, grinding back against my hand. And, like that, any logical thought I had evaporated. "My...I made sure my body's ready for what-whatever you want, just...please."
Evaporated and disintegrated. I lifted her off of my chest (she was so small and light compared to me), and started somewhat awkwardly rolling us over. "Well, if we're going to, then we'll do this correctly."
Then she was plucked out of my arms with a squeak as Saena's wings wrapped around her, pulling Riley up against her torso and gently spreading her legs to either side.
Ah. Thank you, Saena.
{Affirmative.}
"Ah, I, um, I don't really know – I mean, I've done research, and I've...I've watched you, but...uh, wait –" Riley was babbling, blushing brightly...but she was also breathing heavily, her chest heaving between every few words.
I raised an eyebrow as I slowly climbed between her legs. "You watched us?"
"Um...maybe a little...a few times?" She hid her face in her hands.
"Did you enjoy it?" I leaned in, gently kissing the inside of her thigh. I could feel her muscle twitch like she was trying to squeeze down on my head, but Saena was holding her legs in place.
"...yeah. a lot," she mumbled into her hands. When I started trailing up her thigh, she bit her lip. When I nipped at her skin, she let out a shuddering breath. "Um...what do I...what do I do...?"
"Nothing," I told her from between her legs, my focus drifting away from her face. "This is your first time – the only thing I want you to focus on is how it feels." Her pussy was cute, I decided. The inner lips were completely tucked away and hidden...but despite how tight and closed off it seemed, she was still obviously soaked.
"Um, but –" she started.
I slowly drew my tongue up along her pussy, and she cut off with a squeak, reaching down for my head before hesitating and clenching her fingers around the hem of her nightdress instead.
She stared down at me with wide eyes as I explored her. I dipped my tongue between her folds, teasing and testing her lips. I lapped gently at her entrance, becoming acquainted with her unique flavor. I teased along her slit with the tip of my tongue, and I lapped at her entire pussy with long strokes of the entire muscle. Each movement brought new little gasps and whimpers from her as she bunched up her nightgown, torn between lifting it up higher to get a better view and concealing the embarrassing sight of me devouring her.
I lived for those reactions. I teased them out of her carefully, one by one, guided by my own experience and even further by Company fiat. I teased at her clit and quickly found it was too sensitive, at least for now, so I simply let the tip of my tongue wander near to it without quite touching it.
Finally, when she was a panting, quivering mess, I could feel that it was the right time. I wrapped my arms around her legs from beneath, pressing my face tighter against her sweet slit, and pressed my tongue inside. She gasped, legs tensing around me, and I spent a while licking just inside her. Each movement of my tongue brought another little twitch, another murmured word.
And she was ready. I flexed my jaw just a bit and let my tongue extend – not fully, not quite, but just enough to let the tip of it lap at her g-spot.
The moment my tongue touched it she screamed, a high-pitched note of pure release, and her hands immediately released her nightgown and clamped down on my hair as her hips pressed upwards against my face, muscles twitching and quivering as her body fired on all cylinders. I simply kept calmly licking at that treasured spot, tasting her cum as it poured into my mouth and loving every second of it.
Bit by bit, her breathing slowed even as she kept bucking her hips in time with my movements, and her mumbled nonsense resolved itself into words. "W-wait, waitwaitwait, I want...I want more, I want you to...to do bad things with me."
I hummed, tongue still inside her, and she shivered. She tugged at my hair a bit, though, so I (reluctantly) separated myself from her slit. "Bad things? Aren't we already doing those?"
She blushed, eyes glancing away from my face. "I mean...I want...I want you to fff...to fuck me."
Well. If she was going to put it like that. I rose to my knees between her legs and freed myself from my pants, amused at the way her eyes immediately dropped to my dick.
I moved forward, and for a moment I just laid it on top of her slit, enjoying how far up her body it reached. She's so much smaller than me. It feels...pretty wrong, and at the same time amazing.
She licked her lips. "I want...I want that. All of it." With visible effort, she looked into my face again. "Please?"
Fuck, if you're doing this by accident I shudder to imagine what you'll become once you're corrupted properly.
I pulled back, slowly rubbing the tip along her slit, feeling heat and wetness and throbbing with anticipation. She wiggled her hips, grinding against the tip, trying to push against me. "Nooooo," she whined, "don't tease me. You've already teased me. Please, just –" I pushed it in, and her words devolved into a slurred mumble.
"What was that?" I asked, only barely coherent. When she opened her mouth, I pushed in slightly deeper, and a guttural sound emerged from her as her eyes fluttered closed. Slowly, I pulled out, then pushed back in a bit deeper. Bit by bit, I sawed my way into her tight cunt, fighting against the way it squeezed me as her muscles twitched.
The instant I bottomed out in her, Saena released her legs and Riley wrapped them around my hips, squeezing tightly and trying to press more of me inside her. Her pussy twitched and clenched around my cock and a low keening found its way out of her mouth, eyes half-open but not seeing anything.
Did she just cum? Already?
{Affirmative. Amusement.}
Maybe I should take it easy on her, if she's this sensitive.
{Negative. Unnecessary.} I glanced up at Saena, who was looking down at Riley with an inscrutable expression. She raised her eyes to meet mine. {Conquer without mercy.}
I twitched inside Riley and she mumbled something incoherent. Well. You haven't been wrong before. I reached down, wrapping my hands around Riley's tiny waist, and started actually fucking her. Slow, steady strokes with enough force behind them to slap our hips together. Whatever fuck-trance Riley found herself in, she managed to mostly meet my rhythm, relaxing her legs as I pulled out and pulling me back in desperately as I pushed forward.
I lost myself inside her. I have no idea how many times I plunged into her. I kept up a steady, slow rhythm until she clenched around me so tightly I couldn't move, gasping something I couldn't understand. As soon as she relaxed, I'd lost patience.
And so I pounded her. I pulled her waist against mine, slamming us together and feeling my balls bouncing against her ass. Her face had slackened, eyes half-closed and fluttering in their sockets, legs still vaguely attempting to pull me in but without coordination. There's something weirdly hot about fucking the bio-tinker until her brain and body both stop functioning. At that thought, I twitched, and took a moment to catch my breath, buried inside her.
She mumbled, grinding her hips against mine greedily, and I squeezed her hips in my hands. I thought I heard the word 'more' somewhere in those incoherent noises – so I obliged her. I leaned forward slightly, Saena automatically shifting her wings to give me support, and I slammed my hips downwards, bouncing Riley against the bed.
She made a deep, desperate noise with each thrust, her legs going slack...so I slipped my hands underneath her thighs and pulled them upwards, folding her to find the perfect angle.
I mating pressed her into the bed. With the first thrust, she must have gained some semblance of thought again, because her arms found their way up to wrap around me. Well...as much as they could. Her nails dug lightly into my skin as she tried to grip me, tried to find purchase, and I lost my mind.
don't know how long I pounded the girl into the bed. I don't know how hard I did it, either.
I know when I finally came, I went blind for a solid ten or twenty seconds, and when I came to Riley was completely limp and filled with my seed. I knelt there for a moment, slowly going soft inside of her, trying desperately to catch my breath and wondering if I'd gone too far.
{Negative. Perfect execution. Engage aftercare.}
Expertly, Saena flipped us around, letting me slip free from the girl beneath me and draping her across my chest limply as I laid atop Saena's torso.
I blinked, drained from how intense the sex had been. Should...should clean her up before morning.
{Affirmative.}
The last thing I saw before I passed into sleep was a small ball of my cum hovering up from Riley's waist, on a collision course with Saena's mouth.
I woke to a pleasant sensation. Slowly, I stirred, feeling occasional jolts of pleasure distantly firing. When my eyes fluttered open, they were drawn to movement in my lap.
Riley was laying between my legs, dick draped across her face, gently trailing kisses up it from beneath and making pleased noises. "Mm," she mumbled in between kisses. "Good morning. I didn't...realize how...unsatisfied I'd been before...until I woke up this morning. This...this..." She slid her tongue along my cock in a long lick that ended in a gentle kiss. "This is so much better." Slowly, she teased her way towards the tip, smiling indolently and with dazed eyes.
She gently suckled just underneath the tip for a moment before pulling back, excitement shimmering in her eyes. "I was going to wait for this. Until I'd had a chance to install some extra nerve endings in my throat, you know? To enjoy it properly. But..." She leaned forward, and her next words were slightly muffled by the tip of my cock. "...I just can't wait, I don't think." Slowly, she wrapped her lips around it. "Amf I a bah guh?" She stared into my eyes as she lapped at my dick, waiting for an answer.
I slid my hand through her hair and she hummed wonderfully around my cock. "I think if you keep that up, you're a very good girl, Riley."
She closed her eyes, a happy sound coming from the back of her throat.
Then, she slowly worked her way down my cock, and I realized she'd removed her own gag reflex around the time her lips reached the base.
Riley
She hummed quietly to herself, a tune that she couldn't quite remember the origin of. She swayed to the tune as she programmed her instructions into her spider – one of her new models! Nilbog's parts made the organic sections of her spiders so much more efficient, they were getting smarter and smarter and she was so proud of them. This one had become a bit of a leader, and now it was getting the honor of performing her self-surgery!
She patted it gently. "You're going to do so well, Dumbo. I already know it." It didn't respond, but that was fine – it most likely had plenty of things on its mind right now.
She watched as the instructions uploaded, wiggling her hips against her chair and enjoying the satisfying soreness deep in her belly. It was...a bit shocking, how much better she felt after last night. Her head was so clear now! And she had so many new ideas to play with!
This one had been obvious, though. Considering how much she'd enjoyed this morning...well, she was definitely waking Michael up like that more often. Or all the time, maybe. Ooh, she thought as she laid down on the table and turned off her nerves so she wouldn't twitch while the spider cut into her esophagus. I should set up an alarm tied to my endocrine system! Then I can always wake up before he does, feeling...like that. And then we can...heehee~!
Her throat was occupied by the surgery, so she continued humming in her head as she let the ideas flow freely. It was a short operation; the extra nerve endings had already been grown and prepared, so it was just a quick job of implanting them and attaching them to the right anchors.
Once it had sewn her back up and she could move again, she set up and licked her lips. I...should probably test my work, right? I'm kind of nervous...I wonder why?
Slowly, she slid a finger down her throat, far enough to have made her gag before her initial adjustments. As her finger tickled along her esophagus, her toes curled and her eyes rolled back, muscles in her core clenching hard as a massive wave of pleasure rushed through her.
For a while, she sat there, stroking the inside of her throat with a finger and grinding her hips against the chair. Finally, she snapped out of it, pulling her drool-covered digit from her throat and staring at it while panting.
O-oh...I might have turned the sensitivity up a little too high...heh, maybe I should tweak that? With a mental flick, she disabled her new nerves so she could swallow without losing her mind.
Then she licked her lips. Then again...I wonder what this morning would have been like if I'd had that? Maybe I should try it before I make any adjustments. Proper experimental procedure is important!
Humming happily and kicking her feet as she started making notes, Riley continued with her day.
I sat staring at the Catalog again. I almost regretted selling Tohu. I could think of a number of ways someone with access to any three Shards could be of great use – especially I was kicking myself for losing easy access to the Doormaker/Clairvoyant combo that would have given me access to nearly anywhere in most worlds I visited.
On the other hand...if I started keeping waifus for utility rather than because they interested me, where exactly did that road end? I could think of a lot of very useful people that I didn't really want around me, and I'd feel a bit bad keeping someone mentally slaved to me when I only used them as a tool. Even if the Company would make certain they were fine with it, or even enjoyed it.
Still, I'd already made the decision, so there wasn't any reason to waffle over it now. I selected a few purchases that I could now afford, and finalized them.
I'd pick up a talent for psychic powers on the off-chance that Saena could teach me telekinesis – but even if she couldn't, it would almost certainly come in handy in the future. The other forward-facing purchase I'd selected would safeguard me from attacks on my soul, which would be necessary if we ended up on a world with metaphysical corruption – Angra Mainyu, Phazon, Phyrexian Oil, the Taken...all of those could be game-enders if I encountered them before I had that perk, so there was no reason to put it off further.
And then, finally, it was time to become a dragon. I'd agonized for a while over the blank field for my 'affinity' as a dragon, and...really, it boiled down to choosing what felt right. And while it was true I thought being the Dragon of Magic would be pretty amazing, the truth was...I didn't know any magic at the moment. Nor was I sure I wanted to become the kind of spells-within-spells type of person regardless. I thought I was pretty clever, yeah, but setting up complicated chains of interdependent abilities had never been my strong suit.
In the end, I typed in my choice and confirmed it, and felt something carve itself upon my soul. It was a sensation that was impossible to fully describe to anyone that hadn't experienced it; like an itch underneath my skin that wasn't physical. Like who I was had grown suddenly, without changing.
And just like that, I knew my new nature and the abilities that came with it. What I could do now, as a nascent Dragon of Power, and an inkling of what I could do in the future once I'd begun to grow. For now, everything I did was boosted, like I was a video game character with my handicap turned up. There was a bit more power behind everything I did, from the smallest of motions to my strongest abilities.
Even my words had a power to them, if I were to guess. I couldn't reach out and interfere with anyone else's power – not yet. Someday, I could probably replicate the effects of the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing, since they were both conceptually tied to power...but that day would be a long way in the future, if I had to guess.
I also got the feeling that if I actually took my dragon form, it would have a lot more oomph than most young dragons did, which made it a good trump card to keep. I'd need to do some practice, though, eventually.
For now, though...I headed into Riley's lab. As soon as the door opened, she glanced at me, face lighting up in a smile.
Then she blushed and glanced away, but her smile didn't fade. "Do you have a moment, Riley?"
"Of course! I was planning some new projects, but things are mostly handling themselves right now." Sure enough, there were several of her spider-bots working on various organic...somethings in the lab. "What do you need?"
"I did tell you I'd explain some of what was going on." I sat down near her and she scooted her seat towards me a bit, turning towards me and giving me her full attention. "You remember I mentioned my benefactor?"
"Mm-hmm! They gave you all this useful tech, right?"
"Correct. Well...for a given definition of 'gave.' There are certain things I'm meant to do in exchange."
Her eyes sparkled. "Like?"
"Well. That's where things get interesting. See...my benefactor isn't from Earth Bet. Or from any Earth, really. Imagine the way there are multiple Earths, but applied on a much larger scale – there are multiple galaxies, that diverged at completely different points and ended up with completely different contents. Does that make sense?"
She pursed her lips as she considered. "Sure. I can see how that might work. So they're from one of those galaxies?"
"More or less. And they contract people like me, give us the tools and setup we need to be successful."
"Oooh, so you have all this stuff so you can do a job with it. Okay! I was kind of wondering why a Tinker would give away all this awesome stuff for free. What are you supposed to do with it, though?"
I took a breath. "Collect people. Like Moord Nag, or even Tohu."
She looked interested. "Is it specific people, or anyone?"
"Specific people, mostly."
"Do you have to give them away afterward?"
"I get more rewards if I do, but I don't have to."
"Hmmmm." She tapped a finger against her chin, then smiled. "I get it! You're supposed to go Master people like you Mastered me!"
"More or less –" I blinked as what she said sank in. Then, I chuckled. "You figured it out fast. I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"I didn't figure it out, silly. I already knew!" She planted her hands on her hips proudly, smiling at me. "I figured it out when I first came with you. There were way too many little things that didn't add up properly."
I blinked. Then again. "If you already knew, then...? Why come in the first place?"
"Well, I was a little curious how you managed to get past my Master safeties, for one. Then there was how unhappy I was getting with Jack. And after that...well..." She trailed off, swaying her shoulders back and forth in her chair. She hopped down, walked over to me, and climbed up in my lap, smiling the whole way.
She leaned her head against my chest and smiled up at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I was happy here. Really happy, in a way I'd forgotten I could feel. So...I decided, even if you were Mastering me, even if those feelings were faked because you were messing with my brain? I didn't care. I don't care. You can mess with my brain as much as you want! It's all yours." She stretched upwards to kiss me on the cheek. "Just keep making me happy, okay? And...um, do those other things with me, too. I liked those."
I stared at her as she blushed and fidgeted in my lap.
Then I laughed. A deep laugh that burst out of my chest and would have left me short of breath if not for my upgrades. She just blinked up at me innocently, puffing out her cheeks in a cute pout. "Hey! Don't laugh, I was being serious!"
I managed to get myself under control after a minute or so, choking down my last few chuckles. "I know. I know you were. It's just...I'd been wondering how exactly to explain the next part to you, trying to figure out how to phrase it in my head, and you just went and made all that preparation pointless. I should have expected you to figure it out; you're a smart girl, and you have plenty of experience with that sort of thing." When she nodded imperiously, I struggled not to laugh again.
After a deep breath, I sighed. "In short...what I did to you before was the basic version, which has been obsoleted now. Now, I have...something stronger. Better. It's what gave me this power." I projected a tiny golden hexagon above my hand, then twisted it into a snowflake, then let it evaporate. "It gave Saena the same power, and a number of others. It's...a little grab-bag of powers on its own. There's two caveats: one, it Masters people the same way you've been Mastered. Two..." I shrugged. "It overwrites a tiny part of your mind with mine. Like...there's a part of me in the back of your mind, forever. Whispering things to you that I don't even control. As a side effect, you become able to talk to anyone else who has the Shroud – that's what it's called."
She was staring at me, mouth slightly open. "You can plug into my brain...?" Now she was blushing a bit. "Um...are there any downsides?"
I blinked down at her. "I just explained them," I said flatly.
She looked up at me innocently. "Oh! Oh, I thought you were still explaining the good parts. Um..." She fidgeted a bit. "Can I...can we do that? What do I have to do?"
I looked into her bright blue eyes – not an ounce of hesitation. Slowly, I reached up with both hands, gently cradling her temples.
"Close your eyes, and think about...uh, submitting."
Immediately, she closed her eyes and her blush got brighter. How is she already this perverse? Was it just in hiding before now?
{Affirmative.}
I rolled my eyes. You planned this.
{Affirmative!}
With a helpless smile, I reached into the Cyber Shroud. Around my fingertips, a cloud of pseudo-nanotech coalesced, coal-grey and shifting. It clung to Riley's temples, slowly expanding, slipping inside her ears and wrapping around her eyes like a blindfold.
I felt something click as they surged deeper and she gasped, hands reaching up to clasp my wrists, not pushing me away but holding my hands tightly against her as she twitched in my lap and I felt –
//affection – joy – release – submission\\
And she jerked as my hands pulled away, but the grey mass remained for a moment...before sinking into her skin, leaving her blinking up at me.
//I can...I can feel you. Oh my gosh, there's so much! It's so...\\
She burst into a wide, radiant smile, then wrapped her arms tightly around me and pressed her face to my chest.
{Greeting // welcome.}
//Saena! Your voice is so pretty!\\
{Gratitude.}
It had become quite a bit noisier in my head, all of a sudden.
Yet, somehow, I wasn't bothered in the slightest.
Spoiler: Catalog Purchases
Spoiler: Obligatory Patreon Plug
Woooooow," Riley cooed, staring up at me. Her eyes were actually sparkling, I think.
Then again...I suppose I'd be pretty excited to meet a dragon, as well. I wasn't surprised my dragon form had turned out black in color, particularly, but I was surprised that my secondary hue ended up being blue. I'd have expected a warmer color to go with the theme of power...but, then again, I tended towards calm and directed action even when angry, so perhaps it was a comment on my personality.
I was also surprised at how large my dragon form actually was. I'd read the numbers, of course, but there was a difference in reading and comprehending. Riley was tiny, compared to my body. She was small compared to one of my clawed feet.
I'd have to be very careful using this form; with my tail extended, my body would come close to filling a football field. If I didn't pay attention, I could cause a lot of collateral damage.
Then again, I could think of several places where collateral wouldn't be relevant...
//I already have so many ideas! Oh gosh, can I start working? It's going to take me ages to get everything done!\\
I eyed her carefully and blew a huff of air out of my snout.
//Don't give me that, mister!\\
I rolled my eyes, lowering my head down next to her body. "You're supposed to get approval before you start modding me, remember?"
She shivered slightly as my much deeper voice reverberated in the lab. //Yes, buuuut...\\
{Approval granted. Modification plans :: excellent success. Satisfaction sufficient.}
I flicked my tail instinctively in Saena's direction, huffing once again.
{Opportunities limitation :: time.}
//Yeah...I'll probably have to keep you out for a few days to finish even just the basics! Ugh, but there's so many more things I want to do...\\
If it's going to take that long, then we probably should do it now while everything's still calm...fine. I trust you both; do the basics, Riley. You can make plans for later too, and I'll look at them afterward, okay?
//Okaaaaaay! I promise you'll love it~\\
I lifted off the ground with the power of the Shroud, not willing to use my wings in the enclosed space of her lab. I stretched them out to either side, slotting them into the clamps provided by the House, and felt the other pieces of the suspension harness attach to various parts of my body. Riley's spider bots immediately started swarming from the ceiling, crawling across my body as she flew up with her own Shroud. Something pricked me, sliding underneath a scale, and I started feeling drowsy rapidly.
I'm somehow not surprised...she figured out the anesthetic dose so quickly...
The last thing I saw was her smiling face and the scalpel of light Saena provided her.
Lisa
She pulled the popcorn from the microwave at the precise moment it was perfectly done, tearing the bag open and pouring it into the nearby bowl while she used her hips to close the microwave. She'd managed to convince Taylor to spend a bit of time watching a movie, to hopefully get the girl to actually relax a tiny bit while nobody else was in the loft. She grabbed two sodas from the fridge and moved on.
As she made her way from the kitchen towards the mostly worn-out couch, three precise knocks sounded on the door, and she froze. Knocks do not match any known pattern; unknown visitor. Knocks deliberate, timed at the exact moment you were closest to the door; visitor knows your location. Visitor is a Thinker. Controlled volume of sound, no withheld aggression; visitor non-hostile.
There weren't any Thinkers in Brockton that she could imagine having business here...She set the popcorn and sodas down and glanced out the small peephole in the door.
"Good afternoon, Negotiator," came the muffled voice of the robed figure on the other side. "I require your services this day."
For a moment, her brow furrowed in confusion. Then, she placed the face of the girl, and her heart dropped into her stomach. Glaistig Uaine awaiting response. Awaiting invitation. Respecting polite facade of guesthood. Not –
"Take care not to overtax your faerie before I have asked my questions of you, Negotiator."
Lisa swallowed and opened the door, trying very hard to smile and not (visibly) freak out. "Of course, my-my mistake. What can I do for you, Faerie Queen?"
The little girl on her doorstep tilted her head to one side. "Is it your policy to interrogate visitors on the threshold of your demesne, Negotiator?"
Lisa felt herself pale and stepped to the side. "Of course not. How...how foolish of me. Please, come in. We...don't have accommodations prepared for someone of your, er, rank, but –"
"It is fine," one of the most powerful capes in the world replied, waving her concerns away. "I expect nothing; I called upon you this day, after all. But your faerie is most suited to my needs, it seems." She stepped over the threshold imperiously, striding directly for the living room – where Taylor was. Fuck! Lisa moved quickly to keep up, entering the living room alongside the girl and opening her mouth the moment she saw Taylor's face turn towards them.
"Taylor! Um, Glaistig Uaine, this is Taylor, my...roommate, and my friend. Taylor," she tried to say many things with her eyes, "this is Glaistig Uaine. The Faerie Queen. She's here to...ask me some questions. Or to ask my power some questions."
The cape nodded with...respect? "Greetings to you, Queen Administrator. My apologies for concealing my presence from your subjects; the faerie that shrouded me from others is indiscriminate. Were it less limited, I would have announced myself to you alone." She sat daintily in the chair, and Lisa tried not to gracelessly fall onto the couch, mostly succeeding.
Taylor closed her mouth and nodded. "It's...it's fine."
"What did you want to know, Faerie Queen?" Lisa took control of the conversation, hoping to avoid any fatal missteps. She'd gotten the sense that they'd be fine so long as the polite veneer of the Faerie Queen's guesthood lasted.
"The golden princeling that fought beside the queen of air and darkness; I seek him, yet he is shrouded from mine sight. Your faerie approaches things quite differently; I wish you to determine where I may find him."
Lisa swallowed. "Uh...golden...?" She reached for her power –
"She means Majesty," Taylor supplied. "The 'queen of air and darkness'...that would be Queen Mab, traditionally."
"Or in this case, the Simurgh?" Lisa pursed her lips. "I...don't have that much information." When Glaistig Uaine's expression tightened, she hurried on. "I mean – I can make conclusions, but I need information to start with, and nobody knows much about him. If you...if you could tell me what you've already gathered, I can probably give you somewhere to start."
The Faerie Queen stared at her for a long moment. Then she closed her eyes and nodded. "Very well; you speak sense. The golden princeling...he has traveled long, it seems. He spirited the Chirurgeon away from the Speaker, to begin with, and had her faerie play beneath his skin." Spirited away...she means when he took Bonesaw? I guess she doesn't know that was all over the internet, and I already knew...I'm not surprised he got upgrades from her, given what he said. "He visited the Maker with his Chirurgeon by his side, and parted on peaceful terms." At Lisa's expression, she sighed. "Maker, who wears the mask of 'Nilbog.' When next he appeared, the Chirurgeon had changed him yet further. Now...he has vanished, nowhere to be seen, as he does between his acts. I seek his next role, that I may speak with him when he emerges onto the stage once more."
Lisa tapped her chin. Meeting with Nilbog, peaceful, included Bonesaw; looking for inspiration? Materials? Materials likely; Bonesaw's primary limitation. Nilbog renewable source of parts. Outside of Endbringer fight, both overt actions related to Bonesaw; pet project? That wasn't enough to go on, but if she didn't come up with something she had a terrible feeling about the outcome of this meeting.
There had to be something more, something she could use to give her an idea. Why Nilbog, though? There were other places they could have gone for parts... She raised the shutter further on her power, diving deeper on that tangent. Nilbog unique, powerful Bio-Master. Tinker sub-rating? Unique potential parts for Bonesaw? Likely. Biological parts secured; further options: seek additional biological reinforcement, seek technological components. No known Bio-Tinkers on level of Nilbog; Blasto most powerful Bio-Master. Synergy with Bonesaw? Possible.
Cybernetic options? Tinkers likely; Armsmaster, Dragon, Toybox... She snipped the thread, shaking her head to clear it of the building headache. Doesn't fit pattern. Pattern: Bonesaw, Nilbog...seek most unique, most powerful option. Most powerful, most unique source of cybernetic materials...
Her eyes widened and she leaned back on the couch.
"You've come to a conclusion," the Faerie Queen stated. The sound of her voice drove nails into Lisa's brain, but she did her best to keep it off her face.
"...I can't be sure. There's just...not enough information to go on. But...it fits his pattern, so far. My power isn't always right, though..."
"I shall consider myself warned. Now, Negotiator, deliver your conclusion."
"...He picked up Bonesaw, then he went to Nilbog, the most powerful and unique source of renewable biomatter I can think of. Next...he should go for the most powerful and unique source of renewable technology...Eagleton. I think he'll go after the Machine Army."
The terrifying cape in their easy chair tilted her head one way, and then the other. "How curious. A pattern I would not have foreseen...your faerie is formidable indeed, it seems. Very well." She stood, dusting off her grey-and-black shroud. "You have my gratitude, Negotiator. I shall not forget, in the days to come." She nodded, first at Lisa, then at Taylor. "Good day, Negotiator, Queen Administrator. You needn't rise, I need no guidance." She made as though to leave.
Then, she paused. "Ah. Yes, I suppose I should." Before Lisa could react, she reached out, touching her thumb to the center of Lisa's forehead.
Her life flashed before her eyes, and she was absolutely certain that the Faerie Queen was about to steal her power and her life in the same instant.
Then the moment passed, and the shrouded figure pulled her hand back...and Lisa felt an odd cooling sensation spreading through her head, lessening her headache as it passed.
In the time that she blinked, the Faerie Queen had vanished from their apartment.
"Lisa? What the fuck was that?" Taylor grasped her shoulder tightly.
I opened my eyes and immediately felt different. I wasn't unused to the feeling; every time Riley had worked on me was the same. It took a short time before all her changes settled into the back of my mind and started feeling natural.
The harness released me and I floated to the ground, shaking my head back and forth like a dog and enjoying the way my scales shifted with the motion.
It went well, I take it?
{Success.}
//I got a lot done! There are some things I couldn't quite get working properly, so they're dormant until I can get some scans of you in action. But the critical stuff is all done!\\
And it took...?
//About...seventy hours or so?\\
{Sixty-nine point seven-three-six.}
//Yeah, that!\\
I looked down at Saena...and blinked when I didn't notice Riley.
//Heehee. Look down!\\
I did, and still saw nothing.
//Fuuuurther!\\
I looked down farther, my own scaled chest filling my vision. Riley?
//Heehee!\\ I felt an odd, crawling sensation. Then a small (relatively) section of scales shifted and slid to the side, revealing a small curtain of flesh.
And Riley's tiny body poked out from the curtain, waving up at me.
I blinked. Uh?
//It's a transportation compartment!\\
...There's a passenger room in my chest.
//Yep!\\
Why is there a passenger room in my chest?
{Utility.}
//Well~ my readings make it look like your scales are pretty power-resistant? So this is the safest possible place for any passengers you need to bring. Aaaand I installed some cameras so anyone riding along can still see what's happening, and if they have indirect powers they'll probably work on your enemies without anyone being able to retaliate!\\
I blinked at her again.
//Oh, oh! There's also another entry method; when you eat things, you'll feel a kind of tugging sensation. If you let it happen, they'll go to your stomach, but if you resist the tugging then they'll slide right in here! Perfect for collecting samples for me while we're out in the field!\\
{Alternate use: emergency defense of essential targets.}
//Oh yeah, you could do that too! Just scoop up anyone that's in danger and send them to safety!\\
...I think most people would have some issues with me eating them for safekeeping, Riley.
//Phoo, that's stupid! Where could be safer than inside a dragon? There's so many scales between the world and me!\\
I huffed a laugh.
//Ooh, your voice is super rumbly from in here...heehee...\\
I looked at Saena with a raised eyebrow, unsure how well the unamused expression worked on this face.
{Future utility. Cost low // benefit high.}
I rolled my eyes. I did trust her analysis, despite my misgivings.
//Can we go on a test run soon?? I really want to see you in action, and I can fit some instruments in here with me! Please please please?\\
Oh, all right. I did want to get used to this form...now I just need a suitable target.
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x50413Verified Eldritch Husbando
Joined:Jan 15, 2018Messages:618Likes Received:56,566
I gently tapped my fingers against the broken table. Once again, I was here to meet Cauldron – although I expected this meeting to be significantly more brief.
I felt something in the air, and the Number Man and Alexandria stepped forth from the wall. This time, they were less cautious, and took their seats with little complaint. I nodded at the two of them. "I appreciate you meeting with me so quickly; I understand that you're quite busy, so I'll make this as quick as possible." I held up a small drive between my fingers, then clacked it down on the table. "Now that I've managed to verify that some of my information is correct, I'm willing to offer more – physical data on the Endbringers' bodies, types of powers to watch for that might affect them, specific capes that could be useful or become issues down the line, and so on."
"Sourced from the Simurgh," Alexandria commented, her voice surprisingly light.
I inclined my head. "Sourced from the Simurgh, yes. As was my previous information. I'm not asking you to take it as gospel, just utilize it."
Kurt tapped the table with his finger twice. "Willing to offer more. What is it you want as payment, then?"
"Something quite simple. Tomorrow, I would like access to –"
{Five.}
"– five uses of Doormaker's power. After that, I will consider our debts paid. Ah, there is one more thing, though – I will be picking up two particularly useful Parahumans for you, in the hopes that you can make something of them. They'd just go to waste, otherwise. I'll need a sixth use of Doormaker's power to deliver them to you."
Kurt's eyes widened slightly as Alexandria leaned forward. "Elaborate. Who are these Parahumans, what makes them useful, and what prevents us from acquiring them ourselves?"
"Ah. In reverse order: They belong to Teacher; they will, when paired, allow Doormaker and Clairvoyant to focus on multiple things at once while mitigating the backlash of those using the Clairvoyant; and their names are Screen and Scanner." I took a moment to drink in the look on Kurt's face and the way Alexandria's body language froze. "You may wish to have Contessa deprogram them before you make use of them, naturally, but I don't imagine it would be difficult for her."
After a moment, Alexandria spoke again. "...I'm interested. However, we'll need some demonstration of what knowledge you're offering before we'd even consider it."
I nodded, leaning back. "Of course. Then...what would you like to know? I'll answer some questions."
Next Day
I stepped through the portal to Earth Bet and paused. I wanted to transform before going through the portal, but...I'd been instructed otherwise.
So, still human, I spoke to the air. "Door to Eagleton." A rectangle carved itself into the space before me, and I stepped through into a relatively clean alleyway. I immediately noticed something interesting – I could sense power all around me. An interesting ability that I hadn't noticed before – I'd been around powered equipment, but never to the same degree as here...each nanomachine that made up the environment around me had a discrete power source, miniscule and dimensionally-folded as it might be. Being able to sense power was surprisingly useful for a baseline draconic ability. I'd make use it, once I could get it trained up to my standards.
I turned towards the greatest source of power nearby, rolling my shoulders in preparation – and stopped, eyes widening.
"Greetings to you, princeling. You have changed yourself once again, it seems," said the Faerie Queen to me, a mild look upon her face.
Perhaps this was why Saena had said I was safe to come as a human – even the Machine Army hesitated to attack Glaistig Uaine, it seemed. I cleared my throat and bowed, very slightly. "Greetings to you, Queen of the Fae. I admit, I was not aware you walked the stage once more."
"I found myself curious at the presence of an unknown actor. One who so brazenly tore to pieces the script lay before him." Her tone remained mild, but there was a sharpness in her eyes now. I'd have to tread carefully to avoid making an enemy...but Saena wouldn't have led me here if it was too dangerous.
"Skillful actors have been known to improvise, when the intended show is unsatisfactory."
She narrowed her eyes at me, and her next words were layered with several voices echoing over hers. "You have an arrogant mien, princeling. I am not certain I enjoy it."
I inclined my head towards her. "You suffer the curse of royalty, Faerie Queen – you find yourself devoid of those who will speak their minds to you. You are without peer, and none around you can claim to stand within your own domain. Now you come upon one who chooses to treat with you evenly, to not hold back words out of fear, and it is something you are unaccustomed to." She continued glaring at me...but said nothing, and her silence was telling. "You call me princeling – and is it not a princeling's place to be arrogant, until he proves himself?"
After a long moment, some of the tension left her frame. "You are aware that you are unproven, then? Your performance against the Magician was...lacking in grace."
I winced slightly as I remembered the feeling of Tohu crushing me, and I saw a dark sort of amusement dancing in the Faerie Queen's eyes. I allowed my head to droop slightly with a sigh. "I try to be aware of my own shortcomings, oh queen. Efforts have been made to...correct that."
"These efforts are why you have come here, then? It was said that you pursued tools for your Chirurgeon to work upon you."
"Someone spills my secrets to you, Faerie Queen? How curious."
Her eyes were flinty for a moment, and the echo crept back into her voice. "I will not betray those who have done me a service, princeling. Push me not."
I raised my hands in surrender. "Fear not. I can surmise your source – and I bear her no ill will. She was correct, regardless. That is my purpose here."
"Hmm." The shrouded girl stepped closer to me, peering into my face. "Very well then, princeling. Show me that your words are truths – demonstrate to me your improvement since your last performance."
I raised an eyebrow. "To be observed by a queen is quite the honor to bestow upon me." She merely inclined her head in response, and I nodded, stepping towards the exit of the alley. As I moved farther from her, I could feel through my newest sense the Machine Army reorganizing to attack.
As I cleared the alley, I turned the corner to find several combat frames already converging towards us, six multi-jointed legs carrying them across the slightly uneven terrain without issue as their mounted weaponry took aim at me.
Full demonstration, Saena?
{Affirmative.}
With that, I leaned forward and let go.
My body elongated in the span of an instant, head and neck bursting forth and closing the distance between them and I far faster than they expected. Their weapons fired – railguns, by the look and sound of them – but the projectiles were deflected by the angle of my scales.
I whipped my head forth, shattering the small frames with the spikes that jutted forth from my skull. It felt marvelous, to revel in my size and power – an almost intoxicating feeling. Hmm. A drawback of being a power dragon, perhaps? I imagine all dragons feel this way to a degree, but it may be worse for me.
As the machine intelligence took a moment to analyze its new data, I shifted my body, lowering my head down next to the alley I'd emerged from.
The Faerie Queen looked up at me with an inscrutable gaze. "How curious," she said quietly in a voice that was nearly human.
"Queen of the Fae," I said in the deep vibrato of my true dragon form, "will you ride with me for a time?" I asked.
The Faerie Queen – no, Ciara peered at me, and I couldn't quite read her expression. There was something suppressed, there...a childish desire, once upon a time, perhaps? One long since discarded, ground away by reality...but now, so suddenly, possible.
Finally, she huffed and rolled her shoulders imperiously. "Very well, o' dragon princeling – I shall grant you the honor of carrying me. Take care not to jostle me as you demonstrate your performance upon your enemy." With that, she gracefully hopped atop my skull, dodging past the spikes and horns without effort – a weight that I could barely feel settled in, and I felt something shift as her feet stuck fast to my scales.
Slowly, gently, I lifted my head into the air...and I could feel a thrill of emotion from the tiny girl atop my head.
//No fair! My turn~!\\
There was a flicker of power, and I felt something tiny settle into my chest. A curious interaction we'd noticed – the Shroud's ability to teleport its users to each other, combined with Riley's alterations to me...meant that if I were in this form, they could teleport directly inside.
I smiled internally, feeling the joy of the girls within my chest and atop my head, and turned my gaze to the warehouse before me. To all appearances, it was completely ordinary. And yet...I could feel the thrum of power throughout the structure, the tiny machines that imitated it and laid their trap within it. My senses were so much sharper in this form – I almost felt that I could feel each individual power source that made up the swarm within the walls.
It would serve as the announcement of my arrival. I inhaled deeply, feeling the warm thrumming power deep within.
I opened my jaws and roared my challenge to the machines, and a tight beam of white-hot plasma surged forth, slicing through the warehouse and several buildings behind it. After several seconds, I closed my jaws and watched as they finished collapsing.
A moment later, and the machines scrambled forth, rapidly-assembled combat forms flanking me and siege platforms beginning their ponderous movements in my direction.
I chuckled,
and I surged forth.
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hadn't yet tested my full speed in my draconic form, but I understood intellectually that a beast of such size would be capable of moving incredibly quickly simply by virtue of its stride.
Intellectually, but not viscerally. As I charged forward, for a brief moment I thought I would overshoot my targets. Then, instinctively, the angle of my wings shifted slightly and created just enough drag for my lunge-turned-pounce to place my claws directly on the droids that had been about to fire on me.
But the Machine Army had earned its name, and the destruction of a few combat forms did not matter to them. More of them poured out from the city around me, and from all directions railguns began to pepper me with projectiles. Many of them were standard, but peppered in were others – some I could sense through my new senses, and others weren't so simple.
//Ooh, radioactive projectiles? That's interesting! If they destabilized them before firing...\\
Part of me wanted nothing more than to let them break themselves upon my scales, to bear witness to the futility of their arms and feel the closest thing to despair their programming allowed.
But not only was that foolish, arrogant pride...the Faerie Queen was watching, and if I ever intended to truly claim her, impressing her was the first step. So, rather than endure like a dragon, I crouched low and reached out with the Shroud.
The light that was golden as a human had changed into bright, burning white, and instead of shattering as the machines' projectiles impacted...my shields dissolved them. It seemed when the Catalog said dragon form provided a "massive buff" it was not exaggerating in the slightest. And if a dragon could smirk, I was quite certain I looked incredibly smug.
But before I tested the Shroud, I had further tests to make of my dragon form. My tail lashed out, and a line of droids were crushed like ants, their broken chassis shattering against street and buildings as they were cast aside. I raised it up and snapped it down against the street and watched it shatter, the shockwave leaving cracked and broken ground littered with more debris. Beautiful.
A large projectile impacted one of my shields and was deflected to the side rather than burned away, and my gaze swiveled to my flank. A huge, lumbering form crawled slowly across the ground, weaponry swiveling as it adjusted its targeting parameters for another volley.
It looked to have been converted from a building, and combat forms were pouring out of it like an insect hive – this must be one of the Machine Army's lauded 'siege warforms' then. Well.
All the better. I lunged for it, lashing out with a claw that only broke away some of the outer armor. It fired a spray of flechette rounds that bounced off my shields or plinked off of my scales...but I felt the impacts, and that was a new sensation.
//Grr. Kick his ass, Michael! Don't let him scuff you up like that!\\
I twisted my body slightly and whipped my tail into one side of the building, sending it staggering to the side and watching the impact site crumble away...only for the nanomachines within the building to start repairing the damage, most likely with upgraded armor.
I would have liked to test my jaws, or the ability of the spikes along my head and neck, but...Glaistig Uaine remained atop my skull, and such a thing would have broken any chance I had of working on her later.
So, instead, I reared back, slamming my claws into the front of the building...and gripping it. I ignored the impacts as it fired again, breathing deeply and feeling my power well up once again.
Then, at point blank range, I screamed plasma into the warform. I watched and felt as nanomachines were incinerated, a hole burning its way through the outer armor and into the internal mechanisms. The machine's legs scrabbled and kicked for purchase as it tried to escape my grasp, to unbalance me or distract me from my assault...but I maintained the beam, sweeping it from side to side and burning out as much of the inside as I was able. Then, as it finally collapsed under its own weight, I swept that beam out along the street and watched smaller combat forms dissolve instantly.
I could hear Riley cheering in my head.
COMMANDER GREENE
Josephine Greene had been the commanding officer of Quarantine Zone 3 for nearly four years. In that time, she had seen around three dozen major breakout attempts by the Machine Army, and exactly eight Infiltration Events.
New transfers, cape or otherwise, almost always assumed that the second number was exact because it was so much smaller. No one had ever realized the actual reason until she corrected them: Infiltrations were worse. So much worse.
They did everything possible to keep people out of Eagleton, up to and including propaganda about how bad it was. They didn't even have to exaggerate – the Machine Army really was that dangerous, even when they weren't making a real push. Combat forms wandered towards the edges of the Zone with the monotony that only a computer could manage, poking their defenses constantly and keeping them on edge. When they decided to attempt a breakout for whatever mad reason their intelligence chose to do things, it was worse. They hadn't had a breakout attempt without casualties during her tenure as commander, and as far as she knew the same was true for her predecessor.
But Infiltrations were different. Not everyone who broke through the quarantine caused an Infiltration Event – most were simply killed and/or consumed by the Machine Army. There had been a few Blasters that had been made into the core of a unique warform, and those had been...a challenge, both for martially and for morale, but even they didn't qualify for an Infiltration.
The core problem was that the Machine Army adapted. Especially to technology, and this was well-known – a targeted propaganda campaign to stop Tinkers from feeding the machines more and better gear that had mostly worked. What was less well-known is that the machines adapted to anything. Start breaking machines with explosives? They'll develop forms with concussive dampening. High-speed armor piercing? They'll start fielding reactive armor.
And while they didn't keep all those adaptations in every form – they were, luckily, limited by some of the laws of physics – their designs became more refined every day, and were very quick to recognize tactics they'd developed counters for already.
An Infiltration Event occurred when some fool of a cape or another decided to commit suicide by Machine Army, and broke into the zone with powers blazing. If they were (un)lucky enough, they destroyed some combat forms before they were overwhelmed and killed. And if Greene was unlucky enough, their power would give the machines an idea, and within 72 hours they'd face a breakout attempt from some new superweapon.
Greene would never forget the day Banshee had broken through, and she suspected the other survivors never would either. The way the machines screamed as they swarmed the perimeter...and the results of those screams on the men around her on the barricades.
To this day, 'Banshee' class combat forms were the very first target for snipers, Blasters, and high explosives.
Yet, as she watched a dragon cut through swaths of machines with a beam of directed plasma, she was afraid that their target priorities might be about to shift. Because if the machines didn't get an idea from this, she'd eat her goddamn medals.
"Ma'am, the other sectors are reporting – the machines are pulling back on all fronts," the tech that was too young to be here informed her, hand on his headset. "The siege form at three-four is in full retreat, as well."
She cupped her hands in front of her and sighed heavily. "All hands take a moment. This is the calm; when he falls, the storm will come." She watched the screen as more weapons fire flashed out and was deflected by light screens, watched the tail smash into a bipedal form and send it reeling backwards. Yet, she recognized those – they were based on a kinetic manipulator that she'd fought alongside, a long time ago. Until, one day, he'd woken up, eaten his breakfast, and walked calmly into the quarantine zone to die.
They'd become stricter on mental health rotations, after that.
Sure enough, the biped leaped forward in a flash and crashed into the dragon's flank, sending it staggering forward. It was almost comical, watching something so comparatively small stagger something that size.
The dragon turned to stare at its aggressor for a moment.
Then, a light flickered – so bright the camera dimmed automatically. When it adjusted back to normal, the bipedal machine collapsed in several pieces, cut so finely she was reminded of watching Narwhal fight.
As the dragon turned again, her eyes narrowed. "Pause here!" They did. She could see...something, but she couldn't make it out. She grimaced. "Get me Eyespy." One of the techs tapped a few things before handing her an earpiece, which she put in.
"-spy here. What is it?" Grizzled and disgruntled, as always.
"I need a closer look at that dragon. Specifically, at its head. It looks like there's a rider – a Master, maybe, or a captive."
There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "Understood, ma'am. Give me five." She settled back to wait.
Eyespy had been an extremely useful acquisition: a Thinker/Stranger who could 'project' himself onto any flat surface within his field of view, becoming intangible and gaining vision like a camera had been installed on that surface. He could project even while already attached to a surface, letting him daisy-chain into areas he couldn't initially see – extremely useful for spying on areas too far from the quarantine cordon for traditional surveillance.
A pity about his personality. He'd been remanded here as punishment detail after one too many complaints about him spying on his teammates – especially the other men.
She tapped her fingers against her leg as she waited for the report, watching the dragon continue to scythe its way through the machines like chaff – but, slowly, the Army was converging on it. Like an immune system slowly swarming and overwhelming a virus, in a way.
More specialized forms were being tested – a Banshee screamed, and the dragon stumbled for a moment before it breathed white plasma and wiped the offending unit from existence. But...there were more. There were always more.
"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck," came over her headset. She flicked the transmitter.
"Report, goddammit. What is it?"
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck. The fucking Faerie Queen is here! She's the one riding the dragon!"
Her blood ran cold. "You are absolutely certain of this. With no doubt."
"She fucking looked straight at me! Made eye contact, never mind the fact that I 'wasn't there'!"
"...Understood. Go calm yourself."
"With respect, ma'am, fuck -"
She removed the earpiece and very calmly set it to the side. She ignored the increasingly panicked looks of the techs around her.
She reached down and touched a single button, and five seconds later a familiar face that she'd hoped not to see again appeared on her monitor.
"Talk to me," the Chief Director said.
"We have a situation," Greene replied.
"Your enemy grows ever stronger and more numerous," the Faerie Queen pointed out quietly as I carved through more of them.
"Indeed."
"You have yet to collect any of the fallen; if you have come to take them for your Chirurgeon, you appear to be failing."
"Appearances can be deceiving, o' Faerie Queen." I was interrupted as I screamed out plasma into another siege form. This time, its armor held, glowing with heat but not liquefying. Got you. Riley, time to switch out.
//Okaaaaay~\\ I could feel the moment she flickered to Saena's side in our own dimension.
Okaaaaay~\\ I could feel the moment she flickered to Saena's side in our own dimension.
And a moment later I felt Saena take her place within me. {Plan engaged; clear interference.}
Confirmed. I swept my breath to the sides, clearing a small space around the siege form that had resisted me. "I am here to collect tools, and to collect weapons. And of what use are those before they have been forged? Heated in fire and beaten by hardship; I have no interest in weak and untested metal."
The siege form froze as Saena reached out to its consciousness. It began to twitch as she inserted code into the nanomachines that built its body like cells. The machines around it turned towards it and I could feel a tickle as their signals filled the air.
{Resistance detected.}
Handling it. I swept forward, curling my massive body around our 'captured' form and lashing out with my wings, bowling over the larger forms and sending the smaller ones flying. More importantly, I disrupted their communications.
{. . . Patch complete. New goals designated. New data provided – designs underway.}
I uncurled, and if I'd been able to grin I would have. The siege-form's colors shifted – its coal grey exterior mottling like a chameleon until it was a midnight blue-black, much like my own scales.
Then it fired on the machines around it, and I could almost feel the split second of confusion ripple through them.
I raised my head towards the sky and roared as I raised a claw. Then, reaching into the Shroud, I slammed it onto the ground.
And all around us, thorns of white light burned and seared the machines. As I let the constructs fade, the burned-out husks collapsed onto the ground and for a moment there was silence.
Hundreds upon hundreds of black, spidery shapes poured out of every possible orifice on the siege-form, swarming out to the broken shells and reclaiming them, dyeing them in my own colors and filling them with new purpose. Their weapons were twisted into new forms based on the data that Saena had provided to the new 'core' intelligence, and they moved.
"...I see. So you have claimed yourself an army by infecting its general. A clever ploy, dragon prince."
I inclined my head before simply beginning to lower it towards the ground. "Indeed. Now, they shall fight, and learn, and adapt." I laid my jaw against the street, and after a moment of hesitation Ciara leaped to the ground. "They shall consume, and they shall grow – and in all of these, they shall serve."
I allowed myself to shrink back down into my human form, Saena flickering away moments before she would have been forced out. The Faerie Queen watched with a curious eye.
"I shall concede; it seems you have improved. Your goals have indeed been achieved this day."
"Hmm." I looked towards the sky, slightly wistfully. "Not all of them, yet – but the first, yes. Tell me, Queen of the Fae – has your curiosity been sated, or shall you walk this world with me for a time? There is much that your eyes have not seen."
Those eyes narrowed slightly at me...but she did not refuse. "I find myself wondering what other goals a prince who proclaims his arrogance might chase." When I smiled patiently at her, she made a somewhat displeased noise. "...Very well, dragon prince. You shall continue to indulge my curiosity, then."
I inclined my head, and opened my mouth, and spoke –
The First
{Initiate.}
– "Door to Thomas Calvert."
A flickering window appeared in front of me, showing me a thin but well-dressed man working at a desk in his home office. He glanced up, startled.
A thin golden wire swept through his neck, and his expression froze as his head toppled to the floor.
The Faerie Queen narrowed her eyes, and –
The Second
– "We must wait for a moment; the stage is not yet set." She looked at me expectantly, and I decided to oblige her – we needed a bit of time, after all. "There is a particular man, with a particular faerie, that I wish to visit, but only in the correct circumstances. His faerie grants him powerful sight – to come to a choice, a crossroads, and take both at once...only to find, at the end, that so far as the world is concerned he has taken only the most favorable." I inclined my head, smiling. "I have just ensured that the most favorable path...is the one in which he is where I desire him to be."
"You choose the location of your meetings, even when you are the visitor? How interesting. What about this man demands such attentions?"
My smile grew, and it was unkind. "I am not a man of many beliefs, Faerie Queen; the world has long ground them away. But...one of those that remains is quite simple. Those who have been wronged should be allowed to see their enemies fall." I took a breath, then opened my mouth –
The Third
{Initiate.}
– "Door to Thomas Calvert." A door opened to a thin man in the middle of removing a costume – a simple black bodysuit with a white snake coiling around it.
He opened his mouth to speak a moment before a golden spear removed his head at the spine.
– "and this man has done many wrongs."
"I took you not for a crusader, dragon prince."
I smiled, knowing that every time he turned away from where I wanted him, I would be opening a Door and ending that. Likely, he wouldn't even be able to see me ending his timelines due to Destiny Defense – he would simply know that he had died.
"I am not. Yet, there are some wrongs that are beyond forbearance, even for me."
"Hmm." She seemed unconvinced...but she wasn't certain. I'd swayed her a bit with my displays today. With a bit of luck, and careful planning...I'd sway her further.
{Confirmation.}
"It is time. Door to Thomas Calvert and Dinah Alcott."
By the time the Triumvirate arrived to see the Machine Army waging a civil war, Ciara and I were long gone.
Spoiler: Obligatory Patreon Plug
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